NCAA gymnast Riley McCusker among Glamour magazine's College Women of the Year
Riley McCusker, 22, recently became one of the six female athletes to be announced as the Glamour’s 2023 College Women of the Year. This year, the magazine decided to shine the spotlight on student athletes from diverse sports who are emerging as game-changers in the field of athletics.
The 22-year-old American gymnast has unlocked an array of achievements at a very young age. She has been a six-time member of the United States women's national gymnastics team (2016–2021). In 2019, the young gymnast stunned the world by winning four medals at the Pan American Games.
Riley McCusker, a student at the University of Florida, clinched two gold medals in the team event and the individual uneven bars event, respectively. She was a silver medalist in the all-around category and a bronze medalist in the balance beam.
But that's not it. McCusker was a member of the gold-medal-winning American team at the 2018 World Championships, a silver medalist at the 2019 Birmingham FIG World Cup, a 2023 NCAA All-American on bars, and also the 2022–2023 SEC Academic Honor Roll member.
Apart from her gymnastics achievements, McCusker also believes in creating mental health awareness. She is passionately working to help combat the stigma associated with it in sports. In 2020, the premed major, along with a fellow gymnast, made headlines for raising concerns about the “culture of abuse” in the gymnastics community. She also spoke bravely about the mental health issues persisting in the sports field.
In her recent interaction with Glamour, she shared her views on the mental health issues in sports. The gymnast said,
“I feel strongly about this because I’ve witnessed time and time again athletes who are afraid of asking for help due to fear of retaliation, fear of not being believed, or just not knowing what resources could be available to them.”
Riley McCusker shares her future career plans
Riley McCusker is presently a junior at the University of Florida. In her interview with Glamour, she revealed that she definitely sees herself competing for the next two years.
Furthermore, the gymnast shared that she is starting a nonprofit venture named Riley’s Leap. McCusker explained that it would be a health and wellness education platform for women athletes that would focus on a proactive approach towards the safety of athletes and the cultivation of a positive training environment. The gymnast also shared the vision of her venture,
“It’s something that really just lights me up inside. I want to bring people together to get excited about how they can be better coaches, better advocates, just better for a lot of the youth athletes out there.”
Lastly, she added that after graduating, she would apply to med schools and pursue her degree while working for Riley’s Leap.